My Friend, Aki Izayoi
by manicmethod
Summary: This is about Yusei and Akiza and if they had known each other for years instead of months. Proper summary insde. Chaper nine is up and running, and theres no hiccups I think so R&R!
1. First meeting

**I got this idea one day while my boyfriend was randomly going on about something and I wasn't paying the least bit of attention. (Sorry Nathan, it's the truth...) Don't ask me exactly what I was thinking about because I honestly don't remember.**

**This is about Akiza and Yusei growing up together as friends. Basically it's just the flashback moments in Aki's life with Yusei in them. Yusei's parents didn't die in the reactor explosion, simply because there was none. The story is in 3rd Person P.O.V.**

**Enjoy! **

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A six year old ittle girl by the name of Akiza, sat one day, in her front garden, picking roses. She knew to be careful of the thorns. Her parents had told her several times not to even go near them, but her parents were hardly ever around and as far as Akiza was concerned, what her parents didn't know couldn't hurt them. Being so absorbed in her flower picking, she didn't even notice the gang of mean boys from the year ahead rounding the corner. But unfortunately they noticed her

These boys were bigger than lots and stronger. They bullied people in younger classes because they thought it made them look cool in the eyes of those that were older. One of them, Kallin, noticed Akiza picking and smelling her roses.

'Hey, look guys,' Kallin said, 'It's that girl, Akiza from the lower class.'

'She's annoying and who spends all their time picking flowers anyway? It's dumb' said Jack.

'Let's get her then guys what do you think?' asked Crow.

'I don't know, I mean she's only a girl,' said the final member, Yusei.

'Yuseiising soft on us,' teased Jack.

'I am not! I'll prove it!' yelled Yusei. Together the boys went up to Akiza.

'What ya doin'?' Kallin asked Akiza slyly.

'Picking roses,' Akiza replied, scared.

'Aww isn't that sweet,' teased Crow grinning. Yusei looked like he was about to be sick.

'Here, pick this!' Jack exclaimed, snatching the roses out of Akiza's hands, scraping the flesh on her palms in the progress, he threw them onto the grass stamped on them then spat onto the mess. Akiza's eyes started to water.

'Leave me alone!' Akiza started to cry, but the boys continued to taunt her, except Yusei, who stepped in between Akiza and the three boys.

'She said to leave her alone,' said Yusei.

'Oh, so now you're standing up for her?' sneered Kallin, 'well then here!' Kallin yelled, punching Yusei in the gut. Soon Crow and Jack followed suit until they got bored and left, by that stage Yusei was bruised and bleeding.

'Are you ok?' Akiza asked Yusei. Yusei sat up slowly.

'I think s…' He muttered just before passing out.

Akiza panicked. Everyone would think she killed the boy. She glanced over quickly, in time to see his cheats rise and fall. Ok, so he wasn't dead, that still didn't change the fact that a boy who had saved her from the bullies was passed out in her front garden. She decided she would drag him inside, granted that he wasn't too heavy. After a half an hour of carefully dragging him into the house she finally managed to get to the sofa in the family room. She considered lifting him onto it, be she wasn't Wonder Woman, and besides the floor had a carpet on it. She ran up the stairs and fetched some blankets and pillows and threw them down the stairs. She collected them at the bottom and brought them into the family room. Gently lifting the boy's head, Akiza put a pillow under him, then she threw a blanket over his still body. After all her hard work, Akiza was exhausted and just wanted to sleep. She decided it looked very comfortable under the blanket with the boy, so she invited herself to take a nap with him. She found it quite cosy and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

When Yusei woke up the first thing he noticed was the girl asleep beside him. He noticed this first because of a large amount of burgundy hair in his eyes, nose and mouth. He spat it out immediately and shot up. Unfortunately because of the speed in which he moved, a wave of nausea hit him and he lay down again, groaning. This groaning woke the girl.

'What's wrong?' she asked the boy, concerned.

'I feel sick,' Yusei moaned, 'where's the bathroom?'

'I'll show you,' Akiza told him, kicking off the blankets, 'follow me.' Akiza got up and made for the stairs, Yusei following behind. When they got to the bathroom, Yusei dashed to the loo and was violently sick into it. When he had finished upchucking, he asked for a glass of water. Akiza came back with the water and some mint chewing gum.

'Thakns,' Yusei said, 'by the way, what's your name?'

'Akiza.'

'Yusei.'

When Akiza's parents arrived home, they were greeted by laughter. They saw Akiza, for the first time, playing with a friend. They were so happy, they didn't even seem to mind letting Yusei stay until midnight. They discovered that his parents were scientists that the city had been funding to build an energy reactor to power the whole of New Domino. They became close friends and from then on Yusei and Akiza were best friends.

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** I thought that was kinda cute. What about you? Next time will be Aki's birthday when her dad isn't come home on time. Please R&R**


	2. The Unhappy 8th Birthday

**Hey, This is chapter two. I've been bored out of my skull with nothing to do so i just wrote some more. I forgot to fix the quotatin marks for dialouge. My bad! By the way on the tenth line of chaper one that mess of leters is supposed to say: "Yusei's going sof on us." I noticed how poeple are saying the guys are ooc but don't worry it's all part of my master plan... **

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2 Years later, day of Akiza's eighth birthday.

Yusei had been walking all over the city for three hours but was still empty handed. He had set out earlier to buy his best friend Akiza a birthday present but had no idea what to get. He considered a dress he saw in a shop but when he was about to enter, he got strange looks from the women inside and decided it was best to leave it. His mum was too busy to buy Akiza's present instead so Yusei had to do it himself. Exhausted, Yusei wandered over to a bench and pulled his duel monsters cards out. Looking at his cards always helped him think. Then it hit him. That's it! He thought. Duel monsters cards. Akiza had wanted some for ages! Every time he went over to her house she asked if she could look at his cards. Of course every time he obliged but he could imagine how delighted Akiza would be if she had her own deck. So he went to the closest card shop and thought about what kind of cards she would like. Then he had an idea. He had first met Akiza by a rosebush and as far as Yusei was concerned, that had been the best day of his life, because he made a real friend. So that was it, he decided, a plant deck, focusing on cards with rose in their names. After purchasing the cards, he left the shop and started home. About halfway there, the wind picked up and blew a card in his direction. When the wind died down the card was at his foot. He picked it up and studied it, Black Rose Dragon. Perfect!

Akiza had practically been bouncing all over the house for the whole day. Well, it was her birthday, and she was only eight.

'Momma, when is Yusei gonna be here, and daddy?' she had been asking the same question every three minutes. Frankly, her mum was getting sick of it.

'How about you ring them, huh?' she told her hyperactive child. So that's just what she did.

'Hi, Daddy when are you coming home? I wanna open my present now!' she asked her father, smiling.

'Daddy's working on it sweetheart.' He told her and hung up. She dialled Yusei's house phone next.

'Yusei, when are you coming?' Akiza asked him.

'I was just about to leave.' Yusei told her.

'Ok see you in a few minutes.' Akiza said and hung up.

When Yusei arrived Akiza first noticed that he was holding his hands behind his back. She then looked at his face and notice he was wearing a strange expression on his face, like if he had let-one-rip and was trying not to smile. Then he whipped out a small parcel from behind his back. Akiza took one look at it then turned back to Yusei. He wasn't hiding his smile anymore. Akiza turned back to the parcel, took it and ripped the paper off it, revealing the deck of cards. She paused for a moment then threw her arms around Yusei's neck.

'Thanks.'

'No problem, I thought you might like them.'

The day flew by, Akiza and Yusei duelled too many times to count. They watched a film, had dinner and duelled some more. At about ten o'clock Yusei left, but Akiza refused to go to bed until her dad came home. Akiza waited and waited. But her father never came. In the end she fell asleep. Her dad came home and carried her to bed.

Yusei woke in the middle of the night. He could feel something was wrong with Akiza. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. He got out of bed and got dressed, went downstairs and out the front door. He made a quick check to make sure nobody was watching and ran to Akiza's house.

Akiza had woken up a few minutes ago. She was surprised to find herself in her bed. Then she thought about what had happened earlier and burst into silent tears. A few minutes after that, she heard a knocking at her window. She looked out, with an alarm clock in her hand to throw at whoever it was. She pulled the window open, and lobbed the clock with all her strength.

'OW!' hissed a familiar voice from below.

'Yusei, what are you doing here?' She hissed back.

'I wanted to see if you were ok now let me in!' Quietly, Akiza tip-toed down stairs and opened the door. Yusei saw, even in this half light, that Akiza had been crying. Acting on impulse, he hugged her tightly.

"Can you stay tonight Yusei?" Akiza asked him, he voice full of misery.

"If you want me to, yes," he told her. That night he lay, fully dressed, beside her under the duvet. Just like two years ago, he awoke to a face full of burgundy hair.

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**Akiza discovers her powers next time (dun dun duuuuun)**

**I'm considering changing the names to the Japanese name instead of the dub names What do you pplz think? R&R**


	3. NOTICE!

This isn't a real chapter, just a notice. The thing is, I have so many options to consider when writing this story. The first problem is what age Aki and Yusei are in the upcoming chapters, seeing as there is no indication of what age they are (In episode 40 there was the birthday cake and it had 8 candles if anybody is curious.) Also, the name situation, everyone who reviewed the story since I posted the second one told me I should use whichever one I'm more comfortable with, and I personally prefer the Japanese names, although I'm not used to Kalin being called Kiryu, so I might make a mistake. Another thing is whether Yusei's parents should die. Because in the flashback of when Aki discovers her powers her father gets a phone call and is heard saying "There's a problem with the reactor?" So yeah, the reason I am considering killing off Yusei's parents is because then Aki's parents would adopt him, giving Aki and Yusei an opportunity to get closer.

I suppose I have the opposite to writer's block, writer's tidal wave of ideas maybe? That's why I'm asking you guys to PM me and tell me what you think would be a good idea. Until I make up my mind, this story is on hiatus. I apologise to anybody that is enjoying this story but I will update as soon as I know what I'm going to do. You can help me speed up the process. Also, if anybody knows how many years passed between Aki being found by Divine/Sayer and her turning 17 please tell me. Thank you to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this story


	4. UPDATE! PLZ READ!

Notice Updated.

Ok, you guys are probably really pissed off at me for posting another notice chapter but I want everyone to know that the story is back on track thanks to the suggestion of BbbStrbrry. I will be writing several different versions of chapters 3,4,5 etc. and then choosing my personal favourites or the best ones, which ever. That means I still won't be updating for a while. Also I have a bad habit of starting fanfics like my two unfortunate PJO ones and Buso Renkin. Therefore, I will try and update them first. Now I am going to give a preview of the possible next chapter for you all so you won't come after me with torches and pitchforks. Enjoy;)

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**Chapter 3: The Psychic's Rage. (draft) **

Hastily, Aki opened the box to find a Lord of the Storm deck. She ran downstairs quickly, to see the front door open and her parents talking with a man she didn't know.

"Daddy, thank you, I love it! Can we have a duel now?" the eager little girl said.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I have to go somewhere and I won't be coming back for a month," Hideo told his daughter in a sympathetic tone. At this Aki began to tear up.

"You can't do this Daddy, you missed my birthday, you can't go now," Aki told him.

"Aki I-" Hideo began, but was interrupted by Aki.

"I hate you!" she yelled at him. She turned and ran up to her room. She flopped onto her bed, buried her face in the pillows and began to sob uncontrollably.

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Hope you enjoyed that little morsel of the story. Tell me what you think.


	5. A Psychic's Rage

Ok everyone seems to be giving me the silent treatment so I decided to update this story first. HAPPY? }:( (crybabies)

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**The Next Morning…**

Aki awoke to sunshine in her face, making her blink rapidly, until she was conscious enough to figure out all she had to do was turn her head away. But when she did she came face to face with Yusei, who was still sleeping. Not yet remembering what had happened the night before, she fell out of the bed in shock and fell on her back.

"Ouch…" she mumbled. The 'thump' of her landing woke Yusei who sat up and looked around the room.

"Huh?" he took in his surroundings for a little while before finding Aki on the floor and coming to the conclusion that she had fallen out of bed and that the impact had been the source of the noise that woke him. Although why she had decided to jump out of the bed was still a mystery to him.

"Aki, why are you on the floor?" Yusei asked her.

"Because I thought I saw a bug waving at me, I just wanted to be sure." She replied, folding her arms and rolling her eyes. (Aki Izayoi, the eight year old with attitude)

"I fell," she told him. 'Honestly, he was good at making things, but when it comes right down to it he can be pretty dim,' she thought.

"Well I better get going before my parents find out I'm missing. See you later Aki," Yusei whispered, opening the door slowly so it wouldn't make any noise. He proceeded to tip-toe down the stairs and out the front door. As soon as he was off the Izayoi grounds he ran like the wind.

Aki saw Yusei leave from her window, and turned to check the time. Except the only problem was that her alarm clock was still outside after throwing it at Yusei last night. She did however, notice a small pink box with a red ribbon around it. She picked it up and read the label attached:

_My dear Little Rose,_

_Please Forgive me. I wasn't able to come home any sooner and by_

_The time I did get home, you were already asleep. I did buy you a_

_Present. I hope you like it._

_Love,_

_Daddy._

Hastily, Aki opened the box to find a Lord of the Storm deck. She ran downstairs quickly, to see the front door open and her parents talking with a man she didn't know.

"Daddy, thank you, I love it! Can we have a duel now?" the eager little girl said.

"I'm sorry sweetie, but I have to go somewhere and I won't be coming back for a month," Hideo told his daughter in a sympathetic tone. At this Aki began to tear up.

"You can't do this Daddy, you missed my birthday, you can't go now," Aki told him.

"Aki I-" Hideo began, but was interrupted by Aki.

"I hate you!" she yelled at him. She turned and ran up to her room. She flopped onto her bed, buried her face in the pillows and began to sob uncontrollably.

Yusei had promised that he would come by everyday to duel Aki. He already came by practically every single day so this didn't change much. He had his deck in his pocket

and was just about to enter the gateway, when he noticed the front door was open. He heard a familiar voice yelling.

"I hate you!" Why would Aki be yelling that she hates someone? Yusei wondered. Figuring his friend was upset about something he ran up the driveway and up to the door. Where he saw a stunned Mr. and Mrs. Izayoi and some weird dude with glasses.

"What happened to Aki?" Yusei asked the adults. Surprised they turned around to see Yusei wearing a concerned expression.

"Well, you see Yusei, I have to leave for a month but Aki was angry at me for missing her birthday. Maybe you should go and talk to her, she needs a friend right now," Hideo explained. Yusei nodded and went inside. He ran up the stairs and up to Aki's bedroom door, where he could hear muffled sobbing. He lightly tapped on the door. Something that sounded like 'go away' came from the other side.

"Aki, it's me Yusei," he told her. From behind the door Aki sat up and sniffed.

"Come in," she told him, her voice was thick with sorrow. Yusei turned the door knob and gently pushed the door open. He stepped into the room and pushed the door closed behind him, letting it close with a silent 'click.' He strolled over to the bed slowly, on which Aki was sitting, sobbing quietly, making a small effort to clear her eyes. He sat down on the bed slowly, so as not to jostle it. He put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her into an embrace. Aki placed her head on his shoulder and started crying freely, tears pouring out of her eyes at such an alarming rate that Yusei thought they would never stop.

They sat like that for a while, until Aki ended up falling sleep. Gently, Yusei lifted her head off his shoulder and slowly pushed her onto the bed fully.

"Later Aki," he whispered, and left.

**Four Years Later************************************************************

"Ugh!" Aki grunted, flopping out on her bed, "my life sucks."

"Come on! It's not that bad," Yusei replied to her comment.

"That's easy for YOU to say, your dad is never, not, home!" she told him.

"That isn't true, my dad is hardly ever at home, "big scientist, remember?" he said, tapping her head with his index finger. Aki's golden-brown eyes met Yusei's indigo-blue ones and just for a moment, she could've sworn she felt something in her gut. She dismissed it as nothing to worry about and sat up quickly.

"That's right!" she exclaimed, suddenly remembering something important.

"Well yeahh, I think I'd know what my own dad does for a living!" Yusei told her. Aki looked at him confused.

"Not that, stupid! This," she told him pointing to her laptop, "maybe daddy sent me an e-mail."

"Oh," was all Yusei said. Aki jumped up and went to retrieve her laptop. As she was walking back, she switched it on and waited for it to start up. She sat down on the bed next to Yusei. She logged onto her e-mail and looked at her in box. **1new message**, it read. Excitedly, she clicked on the message. It was from he dad.

"It says he's coming home tomorrow!" Aki squealed happily.

"Well I know, I can read," Yusei told her. Aki punched his arm playfully and pretended to pout.

"You're mean," She told him.

"I love you too," he replied. What Yusei didn't know was that those words set off that weird feeling in Aki's gut again. He glanced at the alarm clock, he still remembered what it felt like, and saw that it was half five.

"Well, I better go, dinner will be ready soon, "do you want me to come over tomorrow?"

"Yeah," she told him. He turned and smiled at her, and her heart rate became slightly faster.

"See you then," he told her and walked out. Aki became angry with herself after Yusei left.

"Stupid hormones," she growled to herself , "I am not crushing on Yusei."

Aki's dad had arrived that morning and she insisted on duelling him. They were well into it and Aki was about to activate a card effect which would bring her victory. Yusei was watching, impressed at how far Aki had come along with her duelling.

"I activate a trap. Because of Rose Flame's effect, daddy, you'll…" Aki was cut off by a mobile phone's ringing. Her father answered the phone.

"Hello?" he said, "Ah, I see," he muttered "I'll be right there." Upon hearing this Aki was shocked.

"I'm sorry Aki, I'm going to have to hurry out," Hideo told his daughter, "you be good Aki and wait he-" he was cut off.

"I-I…." Aki stuttered.

"Aki?" Yusei asked, standing up from his position on the armchair, about to run over to comfort Aki.

"I activate Rose Flames effect," Aki said, her anger building up. Suddenly the supposedly holographic image of rose petals and fire, slammed Hideo and Yusei in the wall. The fire raged and Aki's mother entered to room to a horrific sight. There were small craters in the wall where both Yusei and Hideo had hit it. When the fire went out, Yusei and Aki's dad fell to the floor in pain.

"Aki, what did you do?" her father shot at her accusingly. Aki was about to answer, when her arm started burning. A red glow came from her arm and a claw like red mark appeared in the spot the glow was coming from. When Yusei saw the mark, his eyes widened in disbelief. "Just like mine," he thought.

**-FLASHBACK-**

"Hey Yusei," said Jack seeing him walking back from Aki's house. Yusei turned, confused, to come face to face with one of his former best friends. Yusei was confused as to why Jack of all people would be talking to him after five years of totally ignoring each other.

"Jack?" Yusei's eyes widened in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you actually, you see, me and the guys, well, we were going to apologize for what we did, but then Kiryu came up with this idea that if you could beat me, then we might be friends again, if you wanted to," Jack explained.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Aki is my best friend now, so I really-" he was cut off by Jack. The other two Crow and Kiryu had show up. Just then Yusei realised just how much he had missed them.

"Fine," he sad. They began the duel, swapping blow for blow, never letting up, until at one point it seemed as though Jack would win. At that time Yusei's arm began to burn, and a strange mark appeared on both his and Jack's arms.

**-END FLASHBACK-**

"What? What is this? What is this?" Aki exclaimed, staring at the mark. "Daddy. I'm scared," Aki said walking over to him, she was scarred and was starting to cry.

"Aki stay back!" he yelled "What was that power? It's almost as if you're.. some monster…" suddenly realising what he just said Hideo, tried to take it back, but that damage was done. Aki burst into tears and ran off. Despite all the pain he was in, Yusei managed to get to his feet, and he followed Aki. He found her crying in her room. He opened the door silently. He sat beside her and hugged her. They stayed like that for the rest of the day. A year later, Aki and Yusei's parent sent them to Duel Academia since that was the only place that would take Aki. Because Aki wouldn't go if Yusei didn't come, Yusei went as well.

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Well now, that was actually my longest anything I think... 3 or 4 and a half word pages I can't remember...

Well anyway seeing as you guys seem to act like grumpy todlers when I say i won't update for a while, i'm going to update as soon as I can. If you can't guess what the next chapter is about you are very thick.


	6. The New Skylight

Yay! I got this finished before I went away! This chapter mostly focuses on Yusei and Aki getting closer... :) The title came from the fact that there is now a giant hole in the roof of the Academy. Enjoy and savour it, because it's all you guys are getting for a few weeks!

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"Black Rose Dragon, finish him!" Aki commanded her dragon. Yusei simply smirked, which irritated Aki. "What're you smiling about?" she asked him.

"You'll see," he replied calmly, "Magic Cylinder!" he declared, activating his trap card. This was it, and Aki knew it. She only had 1900 life points left, whereas Black Rose Dragon had 2400 attack points and since Yusei activated Magic Cylinder, her life points would drop to zero. The hologram of the cylinder appeared, took the attack and sent the blast back at Aki.

"Argh!" she grunted, as her life point counter dropped to zero.

"Well done, Fudo, as for you Izayoi," said the examiner, turning to Aki, "You should have known better than to attack when there was a face down card on the opponent's field." Aki just glared at the examiner. The woman scribbled some things down on a page on her clipboard and told Yusei and Aki to leave the duel field for the next people.

They walked down the hallway together, all the while receiving glares from various girls who thought Yusei was a babe and guys who thought Aki was hot. Both of them seemed oblivious to this however. Ever since they had started coming to Neo Domino's Duel Academia, Aki had distanced herself from other people even further, so Yusei, being the nice guy that he is, spent as much time with Aki as he could. Unfortunately, this also meant that Yusei could not spend as much time with his guy friends, who he had recently made up with. They would constantly tease him, that if he was going to spend so much time with Aki, he may as well just ask her out. What they didn't know, is that on several occasions, Yusei seriously considered this. Yet, every time he was about to say something to Aki, he got choked up and started stuttering. He would scold himself for a while after. She was his best friend for pity's sake! If he couldn't ask her out, who could he?

Aki had more than enough guys, coming up to her and asking her out, but she turned down each and every one of them because she was holding out for a certain someone. She wasn't so sure if it was still her hormones acting up, or if she really did like Yusei more than a friend, though she hoped it was the latter. While pondering this, Aki accidentally collided with Yusei as she wasn't watching where she was going, and ended up walking crooked. Aki fell over, while, somehow, Yusei remained standing.

"Sorry, Aki," Yusei told her, offering his hand to help her up. She took it gratefully, but the moment her fingertips brushed against the palm of his hand, it, an electric sensation was sent through her arm and she almost flinched away. Instead of flinching, though, she took his hand and used it to pull herself up. Aki noticed several scratches on Yusei's wrist and she knew that was because of her. She tried not to hurt Yusei, because he was the only person who accepted her. It was hard and tiring, however. So all Aki wanted to do right now was to go to sleep. She stooped over to pick up her books, but a hand cut across her, blocking the way.

"I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't pick those up for you," Yusei said coolly, crouching down and collecting up the books. He stood up again and handed them to Aki in a neat pile. The corner of her mouth twitched. Yusei smiled, but inside his heart was breaking. That twitch was the closest Aki ever got to a smile anymore, ever since that day. He hadn't seen her smile in what seemed like a hundred years.

Mostly the reason guys talked to Aki was because she was hot or there was some stupid dare that they would go on a date with the 'Black Thorn' which was what people called Aki behind her, Yusei's and Jack, Crow and Kiryu's backs, though they were all aware of it. Yusei on the other hand, had girls daydreaming about his bare chest, simply because he was Yusei. Just like Aki, however, he turned them all down in the hopes that he would someday gather the courage to ask her out.

The gang eventually arrived at the dorms when they all went into the boy's room to hang out. Aki was comfortable hanging around the boys and they kept their room tidy. (Aki spotted a pair of dirty underwear in the corner.) For the most part. Yusei flopped down on the sofa and aki sat down beside him. Kiryu hopped onto the top bunk of one of the bunk beds, and Jack and Crow sank into some beanbags. Kiryu, Jack and Crow then flew into a heated discussion about the exams. Yusei and Aki remained silent. After a while there was a knock at the door. Yusei got up to answer it. In the doorway there was a group of both girls and bots all in their academy blazers. One of the boys, obviously the one who knocked on the door, spoke up.

"Is Aki Izayoi in there?" He asked Yusei. Usually people would knock at Yusei's door for Aki as it was common knowledge that they were her only friends.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" came Aki's voice from behind Yusei. She had stood up and walked over to the door.

"I, Hashimoto Ryo, challenge you to a duel, and if I win, you have to stop hurting people," Ryo declared. Yusei glared at him.

"It's not as if she hurts you people on purpose!" he yelled at Ryo. Aki put a hand on Yusei's shoulder to calm him.

"What happens when I win?" she asked him.

"It doesn't matter, you're not going to," he replied.

"Big words for such a short guy," she responded. As it turned out, Ryo was small. Only 4.9.

"Well, is that a yes?" Ryo asked her, ignoring her last comment.

"If it'll get you guys off my back."

They made their way to the duelling fields, where both Aki and Ryo took to their respective sides of the field and started the duel. Ryo dished out some trash talk, as well as some hefty damage, but Aki hung in there. She finally summoned violet witch, but in her anger of the names Ryo and friends had started calling her, she ended up blasting a hole in the roof, and the debris injured almost everybody, except Yusei and the gang. At this sudden turn of events, the name-calling increased greatly, and Aki felt something wet trickle down the side of her face. Yusei walked over to her and led her back to her room.

"Aki," Yusei murmured. He felt the hot tears falling onto his hand from Aki's eyes. He rubbed her back and hugged her, trying to console her. Aki bitterly thought about the one thing that Yusei could give her that would instantly make her feel better; but there wasn't a hope in hell of getting it. She wanted to feel the sensation of his soft lips on hers. She knew for certain that the tears would stop then. Yusei left after Aki ran out of tears. But instead of falling asleep, Aki got up with the intention of walking out of the Duel Academia gates. Fortunately or Unfortunately, Aki couldn't say, she was spotted by Yusei. He was leaning casually against the wall, with his arms folded.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

"I'm going home Yusei," she said, "I hate it here, and you heard everyone earlier, I'm a monster. You heard my dad back then, I shouldn't be here." Aki started crying again, with tears they had both thought ran out. Yusei looked at Aki's sorrowful eyes, and felt only sympathy for his best friend. Before he knew what he was doing, he had ducked his head so that he was eye level with Aki, leaned forward, and pressed his lips to hers.

At first, Aki went into shock and stiffened. But when Yusei didn't stop, she got into it. Their lips moved together, like they had been made for each other and no one else. Then it got really passionate. Her hands raked his hair, without even realising what she was doing. He placed his hands on her nicely-shaped hips, and pulled her closer. They stopped briefly for air, then Aki chose a spot on Yusei's neck and bit him. He moaned in pleasure and kissed the base of her neck. She giggled and with a huge amount of will power, pulled away.

"Bad boy," she scolded him, "what was that?"

"Me kissing you?" he tried. She giggled again.

"I'm still going home," she told him, trying for a serious face. Needless to say, she failed miserably.

"Come back when you've got nothing to do," he told her slyly. They're fingers laced, he walked her to the door of the School. Yusei thought about what just happened. He was going to have some interesting dreams tonight.

* * *

How do you like the kiss scene? It was my first time ever writing one so if anybody had any pointers on how to improve it, please don't hesitate to tell me. I randomly picked a Japanese name and Surname off the internet for Ryo. The intentional meaning of his name is : Refreshing, Base of Bridge. (In other words, his character is water under the bridge and dosn't matter)


	7. Sowing Seeds of Hatred

This one took a while, and the next one's going to take even longer because I'm going back to school in a few days :( Not only that, but our English teacher is abandoning us to go to Rome to do some drama thing. I do acting and drama and stuff, but I don't get to go to Rome. I had to play a wolf that was Elvis in my drama group's latest play, and that's not easy. Oh well, enough of my moaning. This chapter is a filler chapter by the way...

* * *

Everything was dark. It was like a void with swirling, dull colours, blacks, blues, dark reds and purples. He was standing in what might be called the middle of the vast nothingness, on some kind of floating glass square. Needless to say, he was wondering what the hell was going on. Behind him, a hollow, feminine voice said: "Yusei, help me…" It echoed all around him, but instead of getting quieter, it got louder with each reverb, until eventually, it was too loud to bear.

"Stop!" he cried, "Who are you?" there was no reply, but an image slowly came into focus in front of him. It was of a woman in a long black robe and had a hood covering her head. Under the cloak was a red dress. On her face was and expressionless mask, pale white, with small red marks above and below each eye. Yusei didn't know who it was, until he noticed the long burgundy hair flowing from underneath the hood.

"Aki?" As soon as Yusei said this, a strong wind picked up, stirring rose petals invisible before that time. A white light. He was drifting away from Aki

" Aki, Aki, Aki, Aki…" He called out. Another flash.

"Hey Yusei, wake up!" A familiar voice yelled from above his head.

"Aki?" Yusei asked.

"If I am Aki, then why aren't we making out passionately?" the cheeky reply came.

"Crow!"

"We all saw you, ya know!" Crow said, "An' if that wasn't enough, we probably wouldn't have known something special going on if it weren't for all that moaning!" Moaning? Yusei didn't remember moaning. Then again, the only thing Yusei remembered was the feel of Aki's soft lips on his own. Speaking of Aki… Yusei picked up his PDA to see if Aki had sent him a message. 'No new messages' the screen read. Damn. He tried ringing her on his mobile, to no avail.

"Where is she?" Yusei mumbled absently to himself.

At Bootleg.

Aki was sitting on a barstool, with a glass of water, though it was untouched. She was pretty depressed, not helped by the fact that she missed Yusei. He had been her best and only friend for years and now, her boyfriend? Aki wasn't totally sure, but she knew that what happened last night had been coming on for years. Ever since she figured out that she liked him more than a friend. It had been a dream come true, and she was pissed off at what had happened when she got home. It turned that wonderful night bitter in a matter of seconds.

Flashback

Aki ran from the Academia, so she could get home before her parents went to bed. After a solid ten minutes of running, she was panting and exhausted, but she was home. She looked in the window to the family room, but what she saw almost made her breakdown there and then. Her mother and father were sitting opposite each other, eating and laughing. Without her. She snapped and unleashed a psychic gale. It smashed all the windows, She started running, ignoring her exhaustion. She heard her father call out to her, but at the time she was beyond words, drowning in her hatred.

End flashback

She felt her mobile vibrate and she pulled it out to check the caller id.

"Yusei," she whispered. He could never see her like this. What she needed was a new persona. She thought back to the first time she met Yusei. In her garden, surrounded by rosebushes, more specifically black rosebushes. Black Rose. Aki toyed with it in her head. She liked it. Now she needed a way to hide her true face. Good thing it was almost Halloween.

Later

Aki had bought her disguise. It was a white mask with red lines above and below each eye. There was some kind of voice filter, so her words echoed. There rest of the outfit consisted of a simple, full-length black robe with a hood, black boots and a red dress. She had one last stop to make. Aki made her way up to the front entrance of the academia. She was wearing her costume, so nobody would know who she was. People gave her funny looks, but she didn't care. After all, she would never see these people again.

She made her way to Yusei's room, knocked on the door, and waited patiently for some one to answer. Kiryu was the only one in the room, and when he heard someone knock, he started grumbling about how brain-dead his roommates were, always forgetting their keys.

"Coming!" he yelled. He got up and made his way to the door. He opened it and saw Aki standing there. "Who the hell are you?" he asked

"Is Yusei there?" Aki asked, ignoring the question.

"No," Kiryu said annoyed at being ignored.

"Do you know where he is?" Aki pressed.

"He's probably in class, who are you anyway?" Kiryu asked once again.

"Thanks," Aki said and walked away. She knew where Yusei had most of his classes, so she made her way to the classroom and hid in the shadows, waiting in ambush. The bell rang, signalling the end of class, Aki could hear the noise coming from the room. She watched every student come out, until she saw Yusei. As soon as he came into view, she grabbed his arm roughly.

"What the," Yusei began, but he was cut off by a hand on his mouth.

"Come with me," Aki told him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"It's me, Aki."

"Prove it." Aki took off the mask in the shadows, and pulled Yusei to her. She held him there, until their lips met. At first, Yusei tried to push away, but Aki wouldn't let go of his shoulders. Eventually, he recognised the taste of the woman, the feel of her lips on his own. Then he started kissing her back. His tongue traced her lip, requesting entrance, it was granted. Their tongues fought for dominance, but the fight was cut short when Aki and Yusei, pulled away, gasping for air. He rested his forehead on hers'.

"I believe you now," he whispered. She grinned, for what would be the only time in years to come.

"Yusei, I have to go," she said.

"Where?"

"Away." She answered, "my life has been totally screwed up, I can't live this life anymore."

"YOU'RE COMMITING SCUICIDE?" Yusei, shouted.

"A little louder please, I don't think they heard you in Australia!" Aki yelled back, "And, no, I'm not going to kill myself, I promise, What I meant was, I can't continue to be Aki Izayoi. I'm going to be someone else, and you'll never see me again." She sighed. Their lips met for a short kiss, but Aki pulled away. "Goodbye Yusei." Aki said, and turned to leave. Yusei didn't try to stop her as she walked away.

"I love you…" Yusei whispered.

* * *

The Australia joke isn't mine. I was bored out of my mind the other day and I started watching Drake and Josh. Thats where the joke came from. Also, its obvious I don't own Yugioh 5D's, if I did, I wouldn't be writing fan fics about it.

I watched halloween the other day, wasn't as bad as i though it would be.


	8. Unrepairable Wounds

__

Hi! (looks around to an empty studio and criket noises) Ok then... Listen, I know you guys are totally pissed off at me (probably) But going back to school took me ages to get used to, but now I've settled into a routine and I SHOULD be able to update. Please forgive me! So heres a little preasant, its not the longest chapter I've ever done, but the paragraphs are pretty chunky to make up for it. And look! I've discovered italiacs! Oh btw, stardust97 pionted out to me that I had the ages wrong, as in the reply I left for a reviewer i said Yusei and Aki were about 15 but then I said about a year and a half later, but made Yusei 18, so sorry about that guys, I fixed it though. Oh, and i also said Jack didn't come to Satellite, but in the second paragraph, Jack was present at Yusei's birthday celebrations, So yeah it's all fixed.

_

* * *

_

_**About three years later…**_

It started as an innocent thing, as far as this type of stuff goes. Defeat all the duel gangs in Neo Domino, that was the reason the enforcers were formed. Kiryu had tried to take it a step too far and Yusei tried to take the bullet. He failed, but both him and Kiryu were thrown in the facility. Kiryu snapped, and well, passed away. Yusei on the other hand was released after a year and four months, just in time for his birthday…

"For he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good felloooowww, and so say all of us," Crow yelled, rather than sang, at the top of his voice, deafening anyone within a hundred mile radius.

"So, 18 ,eh? Old enough to…do…stuff. Go on and have a beer." Crow said, handing Yusei an open bottle of alcohol.

"I really can't drink this." Yusei told Crow

"Wuss."

"No, I really can't, I'm allergic to yeast."

"Oh" was all Crow had to say.

Yusei began to gaze wistfully out the window. The dark night sky was filled with tiny white freckles and a round silver coin had been placed on the dark blue sheet of velvet. He sighed as he thought of lost ones, his parents, Kiryu and, it hurt too much to even think about that last one. Every time her name was mentioned, a thousand tiny shards of glass pierced his heart. To think about her was almost as bad. He remembered her soft, silk like burgundy hair. He could almost feel it on his hands, but when he looked, nothing. Her beautiful catlike brown eyes were so cold and yet, so inviting; and her voice, Yusei wanted to hear her voice wishing him a happy birthday, like it had so many times before. He felt something wet and warm run don his cheek. He licked it and tasted saltwater. 'Figures,' he thought.

Miles away from Yusei's location, stands a tall, monstrous building. The Arcadia Building provided shelter to members of the Arcadia movement, a refuge for outcast psychic duelists. From the ground the silhouette of the young woman was almost invisible. She gazed into the night, hoping to see stars, and hope in vain, for in the city, the light pollution was far too strong. She wondered if she might be able to see them in the Satellite, a new island created by some freak earthquake. There was little light there.

The Satellite was really just a chunk of Neo Domino, which had broken away in the earthquake. At least, the public was lead to believe it was caused by an earthquake, but Aki knew better. She remembered seeing a flash of blue light from that direction. Besides, Neo Domino was nowhere near a fault line of the earth, it was impossible for an earthquake to happen there. To top it all off, Aki could have sworn she heard her precious Black Rose Dragon scream. It was odd, Aki admitted, for how could a duel monsters' card scream? But it did, she didn't know how, but her card had screamed. That was no ordinary 'earthquake', if it even was an earthquake.

Aki sighed, but inside it was a cry. A cry, for salvation. She had hurt so many undeserving people, strangers, and friends alike. She had hurt many physically, but those wounds would always heal, she knew. However, there were two identical wounds that she had inflicted, and these wounds could not heal by themselves. Her heart, his heart…

If heaven really existed, then so did hell, and Aki knew where he would be going, even if she healed these two wounds. The least she could do was try for redemption, and maybe one day, she would make it. But what were the chances? She saw herself as a witch, a monster, as did many others. It was often said to love oneself, but how could one that was a monster love anything about their self?

Aki heard footsteps, muted by the carpet. Although she had her back turned to the newcomer, she knew it was Divine. Divine had taken the place of everyone, Aki's friends family, everyone. Except Him. He could never be replaced, by anyone.

"Good evening, Divine," Aki said, no emotion in her voice. Divine chuckled at her coldness, used to it.

"And the same to you," Divine replied, "It's quite late, aren't you tired at all?" he asked.

"I find it easier to think standing up," Aki said.

"I told you already, you do not have to think, I will do that for you and more." Aki nodded, and went back to her room.

She undressed and put on a light pink tank top, and white shorts. She walked over to her calendar to mark off another day. She noted the date for some reason, but shrugged it off. She got into bed, and turned off her light. As she settled down into bed, she remembered why the date was so important.

"Happy Birthday, Stardust." She whispered, and sighed. But this time, it was just that, a sigh.

* * *

Yusei slammed his head down on the table, or at least that had been the plan, what he actually ended up doing, was going face first into his bowl of Lucky Charms. It had been a long night, he only got an hour's sleep, perhaps, and the he had to get up for work. Working in Satellite was boring, the same thing every day, get the trash, put it on the machine, get the trash, put it on the machine, get the trash, well you get the idea. He had been dumped in the Satellite after being released from the facility and Crow, being the great friend he is, made sure to follow after. Jack on the other hand, saw himself too high and mighty to go to Satellite just for his best friend. Yusei decided to 'call in sick' which in the Satellie ment sending a friend in with a note.

Instead of sleeping, which was what Yusei originally intended on doing, he started working on his D-Wheel. Himself and Crow were some of the only Riding Duelists in Satellite, a majority of the rest being Sector Security, with few exceptions. The D-Wheel was looking good, a bright red colour, with a kind of curved canopy, attached to the back of the seat. The only thing missing was a CPU chip, which was hard to find, but Yusei would try to make one. Afterwards, Yusei tried to catch some shut eye.

Everything was dark. It was like a void with swirling, dull colours, blacks, blues, dark reds and purples. He was standing in what might be called the middle of the vast nothingness, on some kind of floating glass square. Needless to say, he was wondering what the hell was going on. Behind him, a hollow, feminine voice said: "Yusei, help me…" It echoed all around him, but instead of getting quieter, it got louder with each reverb, until eventually, it was too loud to bear.

"Stop!" he cried, "Who are you?" there was no reply, but an image slowly came into focus in front of him. It was of a woman in a long black robe and had a hood covering her head. Under the cloak was a red dress. On her face was and expressionless mask, pale white, with small red marks above and below each eye. Then he remembered, he'd had this dream before, just after Aki left.

"Damn."

Aki couldn't take it anymore, she missed Yusei too much. She was going to find him. She knew he was in Satellite somewhere, as his arrest had been on the news. But Satellite was a big place, not as big as Neo Domino, but still pretty big in its own sense. But Aki was a determined person, she would find him, she felt it in her heart, however mutilated by wounds it was.

Aki went down to the docks to see if she would be able to get to Satellite. She didn't mind how, even if it was on one of the trash barges, she just needed to see Yusei again. After doing some favors for the owner of a small dinghy Aki had a way into Satellite. After arriving, she got a ride into town and asked if there was a popular dueling spot near by. The bus owner told her there was an old dueling field people still used. So that's where she went and waited.

Aki had gotten into a routine that she would duel someone everyday and beat the crap out of them, hoping to cause enough of an uproar, that it would reach Yusei's attention. On this particular morning, Aki was listening to a song on her iPod, and singing it under her breath.

"Hatenaki Sekai naraba kono Mune ni wa Akashi o, Onaji Namidanuretara…" she was interrupted by a voice calling out for the Black Rose. Her iPod was at a low volume so it was easy to hear the voice. It was the owner of the voice that made Aki stop, it was His voice.

* * *

_cookie for whoever can tell me what song Aki's listening to! It's my new favourite Japanese song. I'll try to make up for dissappearing by updating in a few days. Peace Out! _


	9. Worlds Apart

Amazingly short, but my best written chapter (I think) I decided to try something different for this chaper, putting it in a first person pov. However at the end it changes to yusei, as it was esier to write the last bit from his perspective i'll warn you when it changes, though it should be pretty obvious. I also have something EXTREMELY important to tell you guys at the end of this chapter. don't skip to the end just to find out what it is, it won't take long to read the story anyway, so theres no piont. Now then, on with the show!

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_**AKI**_

What is the meaning of love? I vaguely remember asking my mama this, when I was about seven. She had simply told me to look it up in the dictionary. So that's what I did. I can't remember exactly what the definition read, but I do recall something along the lines of passionate attraction to someone. Being seven, I had no clue what 'passionate' and 'attraction' meant, and I knew if I asked I would be told to look them up, so I didn't bother. I wish I had. If I had, maybe I wouldn't be so confused now.

I was sure I felt attraction to Yusei, but weather it was passionate or not, I couldn't say. But it didn't matter anyway. Any connection we had before was shattered now, into a million shards of glass, and each of those shards had pierced my heart. We were two different people, from worlds apart. I was a feared member of the Arcadia movement, and Yusei was now a disrespected member of the Satellite. However, I did not let this stop me.

I had found a way. For us to be together again, if he wanted. If he didn't, well, it was perfectly understandable. I had hurt him so much. I still remember the look on his face. The image has been etched onto my very soul, and I cannot run away from it. His eyes glistened with tears, his beautiful, soul gazing eyes. His face was contorted into a mask of pure pain and sorrow. He had his shoulders hunched and an arm around his abdomen, as if trying to hold himself together. Leaving him then was the hardest thing I ever have, and ever will do.

The only thing that had gotten me through those three years was Black Rose Dragon. The greatest thing I had ever received, on one of the most memorable days of my life. It was the day Yusei was there when daddy couldn't be, and the night he was there to comfort me in his warm, protective embrace. What's more, I had always wondered how he knew I needed him. A bond we had, perhaps, so strong it was to transcend miles. For it was because of those bonds I was here now.

He needed help, I could sense it, feel it in my gut.

"Black Rose Witch, are you here?" he called out to me. I switched off my iPod. I rose from my stupor, slightly dizzy from hearing his voice. Was I ready to face him again? Was I worthy after running away in the first place like a coward? Before I knew what I was doing, I had stepped out of the shadowed alley way I had been hiding in. I took slow steps towards him, until I was completely visible. He gasped in surprise, recognizing the costume.

"Aki?"

He was stock-still, frozen in surprise. I nodded slowly, silently answering his question. There was a sharp intake of breath from him, and with a sudden jolt I realised he mustn't have been breathing either.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?" he asked, genuine surprise in his features and voice.

"I came to find you, and I'm not sure how I knew you would be here someday, I just hoped." I started crying them, tears I had kept locked away for three years, began to overflow, like a dam bursting. Silent sobs shock my fragile frame dangerously, and I was vaguely aware of him running to my side and pulling me into his embrace. The sobs were no longer silent, but felt as though they would never stop.

_**YUSEI**_

I had removed her mask, so her tears could flow freely. Her chin was now resting on my shoulder, and her eyes becoming dry. I rubbed her back tenderly with my left hand, and hugged her closer. She closed her eyes looking peaceful. They were completely red-rimmed, an ordeal any other teenage girl would be having a hissy fit over. She sighed and pulled away to look at me. Her eyes! I had missed her beautiful amber cat like orbs so much, although currently bloodshot, they were just as stunning.

We remained as such for a few minutes, or it could have been hours, neither of us cared. She began to look at me differently then, eyes suggestive. I knew what she wanted, and I would comply. I placed my hand on her cheek, and she held it there. She closed her eyes, content. I ducked my head, and gently brought my lips to hers. There was no tongues involved, no moaning, and yet it was so much more than any of those. It felt right, just that gentle contact of lips contained all that needed to be said. 'I love you.' I had needed this for so long.

* * *

Here is the EXTREMELY important A/N: Ok guys, I wanna thank everyone who's been reading and reviewing ( and those who aren't reviewing): Loviigirl22, RunoandAkizafan, exleader75, Seeker Heart, stardust97, Stardustwarrior, MizoreShirayukiFan, Fanfic Female, Ryuzaki Izinski, amk8930, Miwokgirl101, everyoneisMISunderstood, AeosUltima14, dbzgtfan2004, BbbStrwbrry and NinaSkylove. Also to all annon. reviewers and readers. It's been great I had fun writing this story. by now you can probably see where this is going, so yeah, it's over! I just want to ask you guys something, what drew you guys to this story in the first place? just curious is all (and I'll try doing that with my next story) It was way more sucessful than I thought it would be,I was just daydreaming as per usual when this idea creapt into my head and i decided to put it on paper (well, not real paper but still) I'm actually quite proud of it (there! I don't need those focus pills any more! I made a story with this airy head!) So thanks for everything guys. I was like a little kid on christmas morning when I got a review. I felt stupid.


	10. ALTERNATE CHAPTER 6 ENDING

I dropped of the face of the earth. No, I really did. I'm typing this from space.

You know those alternate storylines and deleated scenes I was telling you about? Notice how this story's still 'In-progress?' well this is one of those deleated scenes. Just slot it in instead of the first kiss scene. I wrote the two bt I asked my friend which one he liked bettr and hes kinda horny, so he picked the less matureish one. I put the whole chapter in just to save you going all the way back. No need to thank me.

* * *

"Black Rose Dragon, finish him!" Aki commanded her dragon. Yusei simply smirked, which irritated Aki. "What're you smiling about?" she asked him.

"You'll see," he replied calmly, "Magic Cylinder!" he declared, activating his trap card. This was it, and Aki knew it. She only had 1900 life points left, whereas Black Rose Dragon had 2400 attack points and since Yusei activated Magic Cylinder, her life points would drop to zero. The hologram of the cylinder appeared, took the attack and sent the blast back at Aki.

"Argh!" she grunted, as her life point counter dropped to zero.

"Well done, Fudo, as for you Izayoi," said the examiner, turning to Aki, "You should have known better than to attack when there was a face down card on the opponent's field." Aki just glared at the examiner. The woman scribbled some things down on a page on her clipboard and told Yusei and Aki to leave the duel field for the next people.

They walked down the hallway together, all the while receiving glares from various girls who thought Yusei was a babe and guys who thought Aki was hot. Both of them seemed oblivious to this however. Ever since they had started coming to Neo Domino's Duel Academia, Aki had distanced herself from other people even further, so Yusei, being the nice guy that he is, spent as much time with Aki as he could. Unfortunately, this also meant that Yusei could not spend as much time with his guy friends, who he had recently made up with. They would constantly tease him, that if he was going to spend so much time with Aki, he may as well just ask her out. What they didn't know, is that on several occasions, Yusei seriously considered this. Yet, every time he was about to say something to Aki, he got choked up and started stuttering. He would scold himself for a while after. She was his best friend for pity's sake! If he couldn't ask her out, who could he?

Aki had more than enough guys, coming up to her and asking her out, but she turned down each and every one of them because she was holding out for a certain someone. She wasn't so sure if it was still her hormones acting up, or if she really did like Yusei more than a friend, though she hoped it was the latter. While pondering this, Aki accidentally collided with Yusei as she wasn't watching where she was going, and ended up walking crooked. Aki fell over, while, somehow, Yusei remained standing.

"Sorry, Aki," Yusei told her, offering his hand to help her up. She took it gratefully, but the moment her fingertips brushed against the palm of his hand, it, an electric sensation was sent through her arm and she almost flinched away. Instead of flinching, though, she took his hand and used it to pull herself up. Aki noticed several scratches on Yusei's wrist and she knew that was because of her. She tried not to hurt Yusei, because he was the only person who accepted her. It was hard and tiring, however. So all Aki wanted to do right now was to go to sleep. She stooped over to pick up her books, but a hand cut across her, blocking the way.

"I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I didn't pick those up for you," Yusei said coolly, crouching down and collecting up the books. He stood up again and handed them to Aki in a neat pile. The corner of her mouth twitched. Yusei smiled, but inside his heart was breaking. That twitch was the closest Aki ever got to a smile anymore, ever since that day. He hadn't seen her smile in what seemed like a hundred years.

Mostly the reason guys talked to Aki was because she was hot or there was some stupid dare that they would go on a date with the 'Black Thorn' which was what people called Aki behind her, Yusei's and Jack, Crow and Kiryu's backs, though they were all aware of it. Yusei on the other hand, had girls daydreaming about his bare chest, simply because he was Yusei. Just like Aki, however, he turned them all down in the hopes that he would someday gather the courage to ask her out.

The gang eventually arrived at the dorms when they all went into the boy's room to hang out. Aki was comfortable hanging around the boys and they kept their room tidy. (Aki spotted a pair of dirty underwear in the corner.) For the most part. Yusei flopped down on the sofa and aki sat down beside him. Kiryu hopped onto the top bunk of one of the bunk beds, and Jack and Crow sank into some beanbags. Kiryu, Jack and Crow then flew into a heated discussion about the exams. Yusei and Aki remained silent. After a while there was a knock at the door. Yusei got up to answer it. In the doorway there was a group of both girls and bots all in their academy blazers. One of the boys, obviously the one who knocked on the door, spoke up.

"Is Aki Izayoi in there?" He asked Yusei. Usually people would knock at Yusei's door for Aki as it was common knowledge that they were her only friends.

"Yeah, who wants to know?" came Aki's voice from behind Yusei. She had stood up and walked over to the door.

"I, Hashimoto Ryo, challenge you to a duel, and if I win, you have to stop hurting people," Ryo declared. Yusei glared at him.

"It's not as if she hurts you people on purpose!" he yelled at Ryo. Aki put a hand on Yusei's shoulder to calm him.

"What happens when I win?" she asked him.

"It doesn't matter, you're not going to," he replied.

"Big words for such a short guy," she responded. As it turned out, Ryo was small. Only 4.9.

"Well, is that a yes?" Ryo asked her, ignoring her last comment.

"If it'll get you guys off my back."

They made their way to the duelling fields, where both Aki and Ryo took to their respective sides of the field and started the duel. Ryo dished out some trash talk, as well as some hefty damage, but Aki hung in there. She finally summoned violet witch, but in her anger of the names Ryo and friends had started calling her, she ended up blasting a hole in the roof, and the debris injured almost everybody, except Yusei and the gang. At this sudden turn of events, the name-calling increased greatly, and Aki felt something wet trickle down the side of her face. Yusei walked over to her and led her back to her room.

"Aki," Yusei murmured. He felt the hot tears falling onto his hand from Aki's eyes. He rubbed her back and hugged her, trying to console her. Aki bitterly thought about the one thing that Yusei could give her that would instantly make her feel better; but there wasn't a hope in hell of getting it. She wanted to feel the sensation of his soft lips on hers. She knew for certain that the tears would stop then. Yusei left after Aki ran out of tears. But instead of falling asleep, Aki got up with the intention of walking out of the Duel Academia gates. Fortunately or Unfortunately, Aki couldn't say, she was spotted by Yusei. He was leaning casually against the wall, with his arms folded.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked her.

"I'm going home Yusei," she said, "I hate it here, and you heard everyone earlier, I'm a monster. You heard my dad back then, I shouldn't be here." Aki started crying again, with tears they had both thought ran out. Yusei looked at Aki's sorrowful eyes, and felt only sympathy for his best friend. Before he knew what he was doing, he had ducked his head so that he was eye level with Aki, leaned forward, and gently pressed his lips to hers.

At first, Aki went into shock and stiffened. Yusei pulled back, afraid if he had moved too soon. A small smile graced Aki's lips, and she tenderly placed her hands on the back of his neck. She pulled herself towards him, and their lips met again. There was no moaning, no hunger for more passion. It just was. Both were content with just that. It wasn't lack of air that made them pull apart, it wasn't that deep a kiss. In fact it was probably more loving than any kiss. It said all that needed to be said: 'I think I'm in love with you.'

"Nice try Yusei, but I've still got to go," Aki told him. Inside, a battle between Aki's heart and mind was raging. She needed to go, but in her heart she refused to budge. She turned and left. Yusei let her go. He didn't call her name, or ask her to stay. That would be selfish. Instead, he sighed. His hand lingered on the door handle of his room. The fingers of his free and travelled to his lips.

"Aki…"

* * *

Well, I hope you liked it. I'm considering revising this story. I didn't expect it to get so popular, so i wasn't putting in a whole lot of effort. If I do revise it, This is going to be the official kiss scene. I'll let you guys decide if you want me to revise it. I'll put the poll up on my profile, so please check it out.


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